


Just Pretend

by dragon_temeraire



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 08:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11482953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragon_temeraire/pseuds/dragon_temeraire
Summary: Stiles tells his dad he has a boyfriend. The problem is, he doesn’t actually have one.





	Just Pretend

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the-darkhunter, who wanted #7 from [ this list](http://dragon-temeraire.tumblr.com/post/160035857151/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-write-a-short).

The only warning Derek gets is Stiles hissing, “ _Be cool_ ,” in his ear.

And that doesn’t really tell him what he’s actually supposed to do, but he starts to get an idea when Stiles grabs his hand, twining their fingers together. Then he calls out, “Dad!” brightly, and Derek realizes that the Sheriff is walking over.

“Hello,” the Sheriff says, looking directly at Derek. “You must be Derek Hale, I’ve heard so much about you.” He cocks an eyebrow. “Haven’t had you over for dinner though, why might that be?”

He says it in an offhand, friendly sort of way, but it immediately puts Derek on edge. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t know what the hell the Sheriff is talking about.

Stiles squeezes his hand, _hard_ , before he can say anything.

“We’re taking it slow,” Stiles says smoothly. “And I didn’t want you scaring him off, I know how you are.”

“Fair enough,” the Sheriff says, and Derek didn’t realize how much he was looming until he suddenly _stops_ , relaxing back and resting his hands on his gun belt instead. Somehow, that’s less threatening. “But it’s been several weeks now, hasn’t it? I would have expected to see him pick you up on a date at least once,” he adds, eyeing Derek critically.

“I don’t have a car,” Derek mumbles. Though his sister _has_ been talking about giving him the Camaro when she moves to New York.

“And we’ve been busy with the lacrosse fundraiser,” Stiles says shrugging.

“Speaking of, it’s almost our shift,” Derek says, looking pointedly at Stiles.

“I better let you boys get going, then,” the Sheriff says, though he still seems like he’s sizing Derek up.

Derek tries hard to look like the kind of guy that would treat Stiles well. It must work, because Stiles’ dad finally nods and walks away.

“What the hell, Stiles,” he growls as soon as the Sheriff is out of earshot, and pulls his hand away. “You come over to bake cookies _one time_ , and I’m somehow your boyfriend?”

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Stiles says, shoving a hand nervously through his hair. “I know that was for the fundraiser. It’s just—my dad was teasing me about finding a date, and I ended up blurting out that I had a boyfriend.” He sighs. “I don’t exactly have a great romantic history, and I just wanted him to know that I wasn’t still hung up on somebody that didn’t care about me. I wanted him to know that I’ve moved on.”

“Have you?” Derek asks curiously. He knows Stiles must be taking about his seemingly-endless crush on Lydia Martin, who’s never spared him a passing glance.

“Yeah, but nobody seems to believe me,” Stiles grumbles. “I figure my reputation as a lovesick weirdo is too strong, or something. But if I started dating someone, then _maybe_ —would you help me?” he asks abruptly. “Just, be my boyfriend for a few days?”

Derek knows he should say no. He knows that this is just another of Stiles’ schemes, that his choosing Derek doesn’t actually mean anything.

The problem is, Derek _likes_ Stiles. A lot.

And he’s bad at it.

He ends up glaring at Stiles really often, because sometimes he just looks _too good_ , and Derek can’t deal with it. And he frowns a lot, mostly because he doesn’t know what to say to Stiles, and he ends up clamping his jaw shut instead.

So he can’t imagine there’s anything about himself that Stiles would be interested in, considering how often he teases Derek about being grumpy.

But he still wants the chance to find out.

“Fine,” he says, and Stiles gives an excited whoop. “But it’s time for our shift, we’ve got to go.”

“Dude, thank you _so much_ ,” Stiles says as they walk across the lacrosse field to the bake sale tables.

“I haven’t done anything yet,” Derek mutters, but Stiles just grins at him. It gives Derek a soft, fluttery feeling in his stomach, and he scowls.

This was a _terrible_ idea.

They relieve Danny and Mark, and Stiles packages up the purchases while Derek manages the cash box. The Sheriff returns in the middle of their hour-long shift, and Derek tries not to laugh at the way Stiles watches him like a hawk.

The Sheriff peruses the entire table of baked goods, then, after shooting a fond look at Stiles, picks up a couple of banana bran muffins. “I figure I’d better support the team, especially because they’re actually letting you play now,” he says teasingly.

“Thanks dad,” Stiles says wryly, and Derek ducks his head, trying not to snicker.

He takes the Sheriff’s money, and Stiles hands over the bag with the muffins. “See you tonight, son,” he says cheerfully, and then he’s strolling back to the parking lot.

Stiles sighs then, and Derek suddenly realizes how close they’re standing. Stiles’ shoulder is pressed tight to his own, Stiles’ hip brushing his. It’s surprisingly pleasant, and Derek tries not to blush. And when Stiles steps away to get a bigger bag, he can’t help letting out a little sigh of disappointment.

“You and your boyfriend are so cute together,” a lady says as she hands over her money, and Derek’s not quite sure what to say to that.

 

*

 

Despite what he says, it seems like Stiles mostly wants to prove to just Scott and the Sheriff that he’s moved on. And since the Sheriff is around the school most days, investigating the large amounts of alcohol found in a couple of lockers, and Scott is Stiles’ best friend, Derek finds his hand being held _a lot_.

He can’t really say he minds, though.

He also gets a bit of ribbing from some of the other guys on the team, who can’t miss the way Stiles likes to tuck himself under Derek’s arm, or how close they sit at lunch, but overall nobody really seems to care much.

Derek thinks that’s probably a good thing, but it was never fear of peer judgement that kept him from asking Stiles out. He was more worried that Stiles would laugh in his face.  Because while Derek may be mildly popular due to his athletic skill, he’s really not great, socially.

He’s never been good at talking about how he feels, but he thinks he’s going to have to learn.

Because he _almost_ has what he wants, but not quite.

He and Stiles are only ‘boyfriends’ at school. Once class is over, Stiles is climbing into his jeep, and Derek is waiting for Laura to pick him up, and there’s no more contact between them until the next morning. And it leaves Derek feeling lonely, not being able to talk to Stiles outside of school.

So an entire week of touches—Stiles’ thumb stroking across the back of Derek’s hand, his weight leaning warm against Derek’s side, the time he actually _fell asleep on Derek’s shoulder_ during lunch—has Derek ready to say _something_.

Even if it’s just to call this whole thing off.

So when Stiles asks on Friday morning, “Hey, do you want to hang out tonight?” Derek says yes right away.  

“Cool, then you can come with me in the jeep,” Stiles says, smiling.

“Sure,” Derek says, trying to smile back. He ducks his head and texts Laura, hoping it hides his worried expression.

 

*

 

The drive over is thankfully short, but he’s surprised to find the Sheriff home.

“Hello, Derek,” he says as they walk into the living room. “Good to see you again.”

“You too, sir,” Derek says awkwardly.

The Sheriff glances Stiles’ way. “I’m just getting ready to leave for my shift tonight. But I might be stopping back by here later,” he says, a slight hint of warning in his tone.

Stiles rolls his eyes. “We’re not going to be doing anything inappropriate, dad,” he says. “We’re just gonna watch a movie or something.”

“It’s the ‘or something’ that I’m worried about,” he says, but Derek can see that he’s smirking a little now.

Derek is very tempted to blurt out _nothing is going to happen, all of this is fake_ , but thankfully the Sheriff heads to the kitchen and starts rustling around, so he just clenches his jaw shut.

Stiles follows him, and Derek hears him say something like, “Come on, can’t you just be happy for me?”

He can’t hear what the Sheriff says in reply, but it gets Stiles to laugh, and the sound makes Derek smile automatically.

Moments later, the Sheriff is walking past with a small cooler and a bag thrown over his shoulder. “Be good,” he says, pointing sternly at Derek, but Derek can hear the friendliness in his tone, now.

Stiles watches him go with a grin on his face. Once the door is closed, though, his expression drops into something more serious. “Come on,” he says, sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion next to him. “We should talk.”

“Okay,” Derek says cautiously, and joins Stiles on the couch. He’d wanted to come over here to tell Stiles how he feels, but now he’s kind of dreading it.

“So you’ve seemed even more scowly than usual these past few days,” Stiles says. He obviously catches Derek’s look of surprise, because he says, “Yes, I’m familiar with your usual level of grumpiness, trust me. And you’ve been frowning a lot lately. If it’s making you uncomfortable, you don’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore.”

“I haven’t been unhappy this past week. I _haven’t_ ,” Derek says, cutting off Stiles’ sound of disbelief. “I’m just bad at telling people how I feel, but I’m trying to be better. And my problem is with the pretending,” he suddenly blurts out. “I don’t want to pretend to be your boyfriend, I want to _be_ your boyfriend.”

He feels vaguely nauseous at Stiles’ shocked expression, and he knows he’s definitely scowling now, but he stays there on the couch, waiting Stiles out.

“I—you? But you,” Stiles manages to get out.

“I’ve liked you for a while, but I just never knew what to say,” Derek says apologetically.

That’s what finally gets Stiles talking. “I thought I had _no chance_ with you,” he says wildly. “Like, _none_. But then coach paired us up for the bake sale fundraiser, and I thought maybe we could at least get to know each other better. And we did! It was amazing! Then I accidentally said you were my boyfriend, but I knew it would never really happen, and. Derek, if you didn’t know what to say, why not try something like, ‘hey, do you want to go on a date with me?’”

“I accept,” Derek says before Stiles builds up too much steam.

“—what?”

“I want to go on a date with you,” Derek says, smiling.

Stiles smirks, and shakes his head. “Did you just trick me into asking you out?”

“Maybe,” Derek says, laughing. “But it clearly worked.”

Stiles huffs, trying to look put out, but he can’t help breaking into a smile when Derek kisses him.

 

  

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come by and prompt me/talk to me [ on tumblr](http://dragon-temeraire.tumblr.com/).


End file.
